Rich Campbell: Bears-Packers swap of safeties Clinton-Dix and Amos reflects a power shift in the rivalry

CHICAGO — Scan the landscape of NFL free agency, through the eye-popping contract numbers and blissfully ignorant fans who disregard proof that championships aren’t won in March, and it would be hard to find a slice of irony more intriguing than what occurred Thursday with the Bears and Packers.

At about 2 p.m. at Halas Hall, former Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix signed to become part of a Bears defense that climbed to the top of the league last season.

About 30 minutes earlier, homegrown Bears safety Adrian Amos stood in the Lambeau Field locker room and said, “I’m thankful for my time in Chicago, and I’m just looking forward to being a Packer.”

Amos’ words seem incongruent. Then again, no sentence could better summarize this week in the NFL, when money does most of the talking and dollars trump loyalty.

Now, it’s a footnote on this direct conflict between the Bears and Packers in their team-building decisions. What a gift to the rivalry, especially now that the power has shifted back south.

The Packers gave Amos the big contract the Bears didn’t believe the four-year veteran was worth: four years, $37 million with $12 million guaranteed.

The Bears, shopping in the discount aisle, added Clinton-Dix for one year at $3.5 million, NFL Network reported.

Amos, the Bears’ 2015 fifth-round pick, is due $21 million in the first two years of his Packers contract.

Meanwhile, Clinton-Dix, the Packers’ first-rounder in 2014 and opening-night starter against the Bears in September, is on a prove-it deal hoping to resuscitate his career with his third team.

It’s not quite a trade of safeties, but in a sense, it’s a swap. And for once, the Bears are dealing from a position of strength.

There are good reasons to believe the Bears’ decision to fill the position with Clinton-Dix instead of Amos will work out well for them. The biggest has less to do with either player and more to do with the Bears defenders elsewhere on the field.

To understand it, go back to Halloween, when the Packers essentially gave up on Clinton-Dix. They determined they wouldn’t re-sign the 26-year-old in free agency, so they figured they might as well get something for him. They traded him to the Redskins for a fourth-round pick.

It was eye-catching at the time. The Packers, despite still being in contention, dealt a former first-rounder who had three interceptions in seven games this season and 14 picks in his career. But their new general manager, Brian Gutekunst, had seen enough.

In nine games with the Redskins, Clinton-Dix’s play suffered from a lack of speed and bad pursuit angles. He wasn’t surrounded by enough smart, talented players, and that affected his performance.

The Redskins valued his leadership, though, and understandably graded his play on a curve. It’s not easy to join a team midseason and immediately recapture Pro Bowl form.

After all, Clinton-Dix did make the Pro Bowl in 2016. In his mind and that of Bears GM Ryan Pace, what’s a reasonable way for him to get back?

How about play him behind one of the NFL’s best front sevens?

Play next to All-Pro safety, friend and former Alabama teammate Eddie Jackson. Play alongside All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller. Let Pro Bowlers Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks set up plays for him by harassing the quarterback.

The Bears’ terrific supporting cast could help mitigate the weaknesses and inconsistency that led Clinton-Dix out of Green Bay. It could allow him to tap into his upside. For the low price of $3.5 million, it’s an easy, low-risk purchase for the Bears.

It’s worth noting, though, that Clinton-Dix is more of a traditional free safety than Amos is. His skill set overlaps more with Jackson’s than Amos’ did.

Amos is known more for his tackling and physicality, while Clinton-Dix’s ball production is more established. The Bears will need Clinton-Dix — and Jackson, for that matter — to come down and tackle against the run. That will be the challenge in replacing Amos.

But take into account all of the ball production on the Bears’ back end now, and it’s understandable why the Bears let Amos take the money elsewhere, even if it had to be Green Bay.

Amos got better playing the ball over his four years in Vic Fangio’s defense, but no one forgets he went the first 32 games of his career without an interception.

Regardless of whether he ascends as a playmaker with the Packers, they’ll come to appreciate his intelligence, toughness, love of the game and earnest contributions. The Bears sure did, and while they weren’t willing to pay him, they’re happy he got paid.

“That,” Amos told Green Bay media, “is the way they show you they want you.”

Fair enough. But the Bears didn’t need to pay a safety big money because of everything else they’ve built on defense.

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